food

HELLOOOO, beautiful humans. Today I have a very special collaboration with an amazing food-vlogger, and an even better dear friend of mine, AshChewsYou! She only started up her YouTube channel recently, and yet her videos are already so quality. You should definitely subscribe and watch her videos, if you know what’s good for you. I’m not even kidding, you will not regret–she’ll be internet famous one day.

graphic by AshChewsYou

Anyway, we got together to film something for her channel, so I’m pleased to announce that I’ll have something new for my blog post today! ✧ A VIDEO!! ✧ Instead of scrolling and reading, you get to kick back and enjoy the show. We ate at The Tasting Room at Coex, and oh my dayum, were these desserts something else.

What do you think of the video posts? Should I do more of them in the future? Let me know in the comments!

Location: Oh, Lolly Day
One of the cutest shops and snack cafés I have ever been to. They sell everything from beach towels to trinkets to phone cases to candles. There’s also a pink rooftop café where my friend, Jessica, took most of the photos of me. We shared a cocktail and sat on the floor amongst the cushions.

Here’s the second edition of my “omg I love East London so much” series. (Not actually a series–but maybe it could be, because that’s how great East London is). I love London so much because I’m always spoilt for choice of bars/cafés, and honestly, they can never get boring because they’re all so creative. Queen of Hoxton is the epitome of this in my mind, because they always change things up.

The evening my friend and I visited, we walked in to a chorus of ukulele players jamming out, because they just so happened to be having a ukulele night! There was also a ping-pong table out and two people were enjoying a game when we entered the venue. Queen of Hoxton has a club space in the basement, in addition to the general bar space where the ukulele event was happening, but my friend and I had our hearts on the roof. “What’s was on the roof?” you may be wondering.

A WIGWAM.

That’s right, for the winter season, Queen of Hoxton had a freakin’ wigwam on the roof of their building. It was beautifully decked out with fairy lights, wood chips on the ground, and tree stumps for tables and stools! Outside, there were open fires where people could buy marshmallows at the bar to roast. There was a large grill in the middle of the wigwam with a variety of woodland-sy food, which was such a cool new experience for me, as well as so adorable and fitting for the wigwam/woodland theme. And the drinks? Perfect.

My friend and I went for dinner as well as a few chill drinks. I ordered a venison burger, while she ordered a boar sausage. Both came with a side of creamy mash and coleslaw. As for the drinks, we both ordered a hot spiced apple-buttered rum that came in the cutest lil’ tin mugs. It was fruity, and sweet, yet so warming and homey. The overall vibe of the place was one of comfort, and honestly it’s probably one of the best experiences I’ve had in a while.

(Couldn’t get a proper picture of the food because it was so yumz we gobbled it up.)

Overall, I highly recommend spending the evening at Queen of Hoxton if you’re ever in the Shoreditch/Hoxton area. There’s probably something new up on the roof by now, so if you’re ever there, feel free comment to let me know what’s new!

I once told a friend that I would know that I have done well in life once I am able to buy produce from a farmer’s market on a regular basis. When I picture my dream life in my head, buying fresh foods straight from the farms is definitely a part of it.

I’ve known about the monthly farmer’s market in St Andrews for a while now, but haven’t been bothered to get out of bed on most occasions (my bed is my life). It just so happened that today, however, I had woken up early to go to a boxfit class at the sports centre with a few of my friends. On the way back, we decided to drop by the farmer’s market that was running at the same time. Though I unfortunately didn’t have any cash on me, I managed to snap some of the most adorable shots of some of the stalls. There was a wide variety of things on sale, anything from fish being grilled right on the spot to pies, jams, cheeses, sausages, soap and olives.

olives, houmous, pesto, etc.piesjams, marmalades & chutneysvarieties of Scottish tablet & fudge!more chutneys, marmalades and other condiments10/10 on marketing for this guythe most beautiful chocolates i’ve ever seenthe chocolate stall even had waffles on a stick that they were selling out!

So it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that I am a ridiculous fan of farmer’s markets. If anyone in town hasn’t stopped by the one in St Andrews yet (and my own visit was long overdue) then get on it asap!!

I’ve recently become enamoured to a café and Scandinavian interior design shop called FIKA, located in 가로수길 (Garosugil) here in Korea.

FIKA means “coffee break” in Swedish, and the building consists of a café on the second floor and a homeware/interior design shop below. I wanted to come to this place a few times before blogging about it, just because there were so many things on the menu that I wanted to try and write about!

The first time I went, I ordered their take on the classic Swedish meatballs.

As shown above, the dish came in the cutest little pan, paired with mashed potatoes and topped with grilled onions. Bread, lingonberry sauce, pickles and “gravy” (it wasn’t really gravy at all, but still tasted good) were served on the side. The only other version of Swedish meatballs I have to compare it to are the ones I had at IKEA as a child. They do not taste similar at all, but both are still delicious. Maybe someone who is actually Swedish and is familiar with the dish could tell me what it’s actually supposed to be like? Either way, I enjoyed this meal thoroughly, along with a cappuccino, which has become somewhat of a staple for me.

My friend ordered one of their red velvet cakes. All I can say is, if you actually end up coming here, buy this.

(Half-eaten cake in picture because it was too delicious.)

The second time I came, I ordered a lingonberry and grilled cheese sandwich whilst my friend ordered the berry pancakes. Both these dishes were quite cheap. The pancakes were only 8,000 won whilst the sandwich was 9000 won, 11,000 for a sandwich-americano set. Many other brunch places would charge anywhere from 13-16,000 won for a similar dish.

After we ate, I popped down to take a quick picture of the interior design shop. Garosugil has a few of these Scandinavian-inspired design stores, and all of them are ridiculously expensive. Not gonna lie though, the products are adorable, simple and if I had the moola I would probably buy everything.

If you’re in town, I definitely recommend a visit. Boto Açai is right across the road for those of you who are just as much a part of the açai craze as I am, so you can pop over for a bowl after a coffee and cake at FIKA!

I’m currently in South Korea for my winter break. Having lived here for 6 years before moving to the UK for university, I became very disillusioned to many of the things Seoul has to offer. Now, every time I come back for the holidays, I can’t wait to go to all the cute cafés and restaurants Korea boasts.

I’ve recently become obsessed with good quality coffee. I’ve always been a coffee lover, but up until now I would be content with one of the seasonal drinks from Starbucks. These days, I’ve been actively seeking out independent coffee houses, or cafés unique to Korea, that provide some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. Here’s a review of a few places I’ve visited in the past week.

∙ peer coffee ∙

Peer Coffee is located in between Itaewon (이태원) and Hangangjin (한강진), but it takes quite a bit of exploring to find. Buried in one of the back streets, it’s a small place that is “worth being off the beaten path” as someone I know put it. The people who work here roast their own beans, so everything is fresh, and though initially a lot stronger than many mainstream coffees, the flavour of the coffee is to be thoroughly appreciated.

∙ cafe hyewon (혜원) ∙

This café is located in Hyehwa (혜화), which is a college town that has many places to eat and drink. My friend and I stumbled across Cafe Hyewon, which consists of three floors in a tall building, and decided to try it out. I ordered a caramel macchiato and she ordered her standard iced vanilla latte. The caramel macchiato was very sweet, as expected of such a drink, but having become accustomed to cappuccinos and americanos as of late, it was initially too much for me. After a few sips, however, I got used to the sweetness and it was enjoyable, though nothing special. The crown of Cafe Hyewon, however, is its strawberry rare cheese tarts. I’m a huge fan of rare cheese tarts, so I couldn’t resist buying one. It was absolutely delicious and I regret nothing.

∙ seoul club ∙

Seoul Club is an establishment that requires membership. For this reason, it’s fairly difficult to get into, unless you go as a guest with someone who is a member. Once inside however, there are a couple restaurants, a bar, a gym, a swimming pool, a library, a deli, and many other functions that members are free to use as they please. Everything is of the best quality, and therefore quite expensive.

I usually go to Seoul Club with my boyfriend, as he has membership and I don’t. We usually hang out in the deli, grab a meal and work out together there. The picture above was taken at the bar, which also serves tea and coffee during the day. I ordered a Vienna coffee (for my namesake) and he ordered an Earl Grey tea. It’s honestly been the best coffee I’ve had in Korea so far. Aside from looking absolutely adorable (presentation is always a huge thing for me–I was once profoundly disheartened when I got served tea in a take-out cup rather than a tea-pot) the coffee was smooth and the cream on top added just enough sweetness without overpowering the flavour of the coffee.

the view

Korea has too many cafés to count, so I will doubtless be trying to find more before I head back to the UK. Let me know if you have any recommendations!